I cannot imagine, after COVID, what interest anyone would believe that government has in benefitting mankind or creating good will.
Musk has a vision that NASA does not. Clearly the profit-motive is better than anything the government can scare up.
I am comforted by the fact that, when Percival Lowell was documenting the Canals of Mars, he was wasting his own money.
I am not a Luddite. Today’s world is so small that one cannot wait for a WWII need for technological advancement. It will be too late. Having said that, there are severe limitations to government, I believe. For mankind to depend on it for benefit is a mistake.
In a Republic, government is By The People and For The People. No people or entity are perfect but in general they work for Us and we have a process in place to ensure that.
Musk does not work for us yet his largest companies would not have survived without government programs. I agree he is a visionary in marketing by taking advantage of government funding while simultaneously convincing people government is bad once he no longer needs it...